Rajahmundry: The AP government has renamed Kasturba government junior college at Bhimavaram in West Godavari district after the father of a local legislator, sparking protests from Gandhians.
Though the state government issued orders (GO Rt No 182) on September 8, the renaming of the college came to light on Gandhi Jayanti when a few freedom fighters and Gandhians lodged their protest. They demanded that the original name of the college be retained as a mark of respect to Kasturba Gandhi, wife of Mahatma Gandhi.
The GO stated that the government “after careful consideration” accorded permission to rename Kasturba college after Sri Grandhi Venkateswara Rao. Rao is the father of YSRC legislator Grandhi Srinivas. The GO was signed by B Rajasekhar, principal secretary to the government.
The college was established by Gandhian Chintalapudi Varaprasada Murthy Raju, who named the institution after Kasturba in 1969 to mark the birth centenary of Mahatma Gandhi. The land for the permanent building was donated by a philanthropist in 1977. However, the land donor’s heirs had approached the high court, which gave a verdict in their favour about five years ago. Later, the legislator donated 30 cents of land to the college and the building was named after his father, though the name of the institution remained unchanged.
Indukuri Prasada Raju of AP Gandhi Smarak Nidhi said Murthy Raju had established 68 educational institutions and named all of them after freedom fighters. “Murthy Raju had put a condition before handing over the institution to the state government that its name should not be changed. We will launch a protest against the name change,” he said, adding that there is a high court direction to not change the name of the institution.
When contacted, Grandhi Srinivas said he donated land for the college when the old building was in a dilapidated condition, and mobilised funds for the new building. “The so-called Gandhians, who are talking about the name change now, did not bother to construct a new building,” he said, and alleged that the issue is being politicised. He, however, said he had no intention to insult Kasturba Gandhi.